The invention relates to a suction sound damper for a refrigerant compressor, having an inlet, which is arranged to be connected to a suction port, and an outlet, which is arranged to be connected to the refrigerant compressor, and also having at least one damping volume.
Such a suction sound damper is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,201,640. In this suction sound damper, the inlet is connected to the outlet by way of a tube. The tube forces a number of direction changes on the gaseous refrigerant flowing through it. The tube has a number of radial openings through which the inside of the tube is in connection with the damping volume which surrounds the tube. The known solution is firstly relatively expensive, because the tube is constructed as a separate component which accordingly requires a further manufacturing step and additional material. Moreover, the many directional changes in the flow of refrigerant lead to an increased flow resistance, with the result that the efficiency of a compressor which is provided with such a suction sound damper may suffer.
Another suction sound damper is known from DE 36 45 083 C2. This suction sound damper consists of two halves that are joined together and then enclose four chambers which are connected to one another partly by throttling points and partly by a throttling channel. These throttling points and channels also lead to a relatively large flow resistance, with adverse consequences for the efficiency of a compressor equipped therewith. Such a suction sound damper can, however, be manufactured relatively inexpensively.